Monsters Belong In the Bed with You
by theworthofhollin
Summary: "Did you have a nightmare, Rals?" An analysis of Yancy and Raleigh's first experience with monsters to their last. (and how Yancy will never leave Raleigh to face them completely alone.) kid!fic


"Monsters Belong In the Bed with You."

**Disclaimer: Sadly, none of the characters are mine, and if they were maybe I wouldn't have killed them all off (grr). They belong to Guillermo Del Toro and co.**

**I've taken some liberties here, like with the Becket brother's ages and such, but its my first published fic so who cares. (I think I remember someone saying they were 5 years apart, right?) Anyways, I like to think anyone with Drift Compatibly is connected through more than just the neural technology and maybe (if its strong enough) it serves as a mental link even before they get in a pod together? I'd like to think so. Mind melding makes me happy and writing this made me sad so that's what I'll just tell myself, yeah? **

**-theworthofhollin**

"Yance. Yancy."

The shaky whisper warms his ear, and he mumbles himself awake. In the faint light through the curtains, he can see his baby brother's big blue eyes, wide and anxious, hovering next to him. The bed dips slightly and his voice wobbles. "Yancy. Wake up."

"Whassamatta?" the words drip out, his lips too exhausted to bother with articulation. The alarm clock blinks out numbers. 4:51. He huffs a breath as the warm body shuffles closer in the tangle of sheets. "Rals?"

"I think- Yance…I think there's somethin' under my bed." Raleigh's voice shakes a bit at the end, and he tries to hide it with a cough. Yancy slowly feels himself wake up, and looks over at the small form latched onto his side. He's shivering.

"You have a nightmare?" he keeps his voice low and soft and he curls around the huddled body. Raleigh's dreams have been screwing with his sleep the last few months. Ever since Dad left. Yancy doesn't blame him.

"No" his soft voice is slightly indignant and Yancy smiles in the dark. "I dont think so…But I just…can you check for me?" Like he could say no to that. With a groan, Yancy kicks his long legs out from under the mess of blankets. Its not like he was sleeping peacefully anyway from the state of his sheets, still slightly damp with his sweat. He looks back at the silhouette of his brother scrambling off the bed and holds out a hand. The grip Raleigh takes is painfully tight. Yancy kneels down.

"Hey. Hey, calm down, kiddo." Raleigh's eyes are so bright they seem to glow in the light from the hallway. They look suspiciously wet. Yancy reaches down and grips under his arms to lift him to his hip. At 9 years old, his brother is definitely too old for this, but if the familiar monkey grip he latches onto Yancy's neck with is any sign, it seems to get the job done. His breathing evens out and Yancy can feel the soft huffs of air on his jaw. He rubs his palm up and down the smaller boys spine. "Deep breath, little man. I got this."

"Yance, it was dark though, and the bulb's still not working" Raleigh's breathing is shaky and uneven, "and-and I heard something and Dad's not comin' and-and, Yance—" Yancy readjusts his grip on the frantic tangle of elbows and knees so he can look him in the eye. One of Raleigh's knees is jammed into the soft muscle under his ribs, but he doesn't look away.

"Hey, hey. Raleigh. Listen to me." His gaze is unwavering. "I'm here. Don't worry about Dad. We can take care of this. It's just a big dumb monster, right? On your own that might be a little crazy, but that's what brothers are here for, huh? Right?" he gets a slight nod. "That's what I'm here for." He taps his brother's hand against his own chest. "You got me. I got you. That's a good deal."

The palm pressed against his heart pushes gently, then a pause, followed by a nod and a soft reply.

"Okay. Yeah."

Yancy's arms are already getting tired by the time he reaches the end of the dimly lit hallway. He crouches down and Rals clambers out of his arms, but won't release the grip in his hand. His room is dark, the faint glow of the stars making the shadows look long and ominous. Yancy can understand his hesitation. He squeezes his grip once, then whispers in the silence:

"Brother, I can't face this monster alone."

Raleigh squeezes back.

"Okay. Yeah."

In that moment, leading his brother into the quiet darkness of the room, Yancy feels much older than 14.

* * *

He feels the crack of lightening all the way down to his bones. The monster's roar that follows drowns out the thunder in the background.

His heart freezes in his chest, and he knows what's going to happen before it does. Half a human blink later and then Raleigh's heart freezes too. The dread doubles in their link and he feels it snap and tremble in panic. "_RALEIGH—"_ He can see his brothers eyes through the clear faceguard in his helmet, wide and angry and scared and so so _blue_ and his mind is full (of a warm body latched onto him in the dark _nightmare-dads not comin—im here—you got me—yeahokay igotyouigotyouigotyou) _buthe can't even form the words stuck in his chest, glued to his ribcage somewhere with his lungs. He can't breath and then the conn pod tears open and their unbreakable bond is reduced to black flashes of dark water and the roar of the storm and the choking loss of connection and the snap of the link like a tendon and the blue of his brother's eyes and terror and cold and _NO_ and Raleigh and Raleigh and Raleigh and Raleigh- _LISTEN TO ME—_

* * *

Later, after the reports notify the world that, thankfully, one of the Becket brothers made it back alive, Tendo will sip his coffee next to an empty shell in hospital bed and disagree. In a small town off the coast of Anchorage, the wind still whispers the mantra of a dead boy's name.

And hundreds of miles away, a man will wake his teenage daughter from a nightmare. She calls out in a language she doesn't speak. The blue tips of her hair will glow in the darkness of her bedroom and the name on her lips won't make sense.

"Mako."

A hand runs down her back.

"Mako, who's Yance?"


End file.
